Fire-escape



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WALTER S. GOODVVILLIE, OF CAMBRIDGE, MASSACHUSETTS.

FIRE-ESCAPE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 333,624, dated January5, 1886.

Application filed October 29, 1885. Serial No. 181,284.

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it knownthat I, WALTER S. GooDwIL- 'LIE, of Cambridge, county ofMiddlesex, and

State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement in Fire-Escapes, ofwhich the following description, in connection with the accompanyingdrawings, is a specification, like many have not the necessary courageto descend promptly.

In accordance with my invention the balconies of a building are providedbelow their platforms with hinged stairs, having a closing side rail orbaluster, the rail being lifted as the stairs are lowered into aninclined position below the balcony, the platform of the balcony havingat or near one end a suitable opening to permit a person to step uponthe stairs, the said opening being closed when the stairs are in theirnormal position next the under side of the said platform. The stairs attheir free ends are attached by auxiliary cables to a main cableattached to a drum located preferably near the roof of the building, thesaid main cable being located preferably at the inner side of the outerwall of the building, the connected auxiliary cables being extendedthrough the wall to the outside of the building. The drum willpreferably have attached to it a second cable provided with a weight tonearly counterbalance the weight of the stairs. The drum hasco-operating with it a locking mechanism, one member of which hasconnected with it a rope or cable provided with branches led into eachstory of the building, also a branch led to a box at the outside of thebuilding, so that the said rope or cable may be pulled by the saidbranches from each story and from the outside of the building, torelease the stairs, the pulling of the said rope or cable also causingan alarm to be set in operation upon each floor or story, thus instantly(No model.)

warning the occupants of each story of the building the instant that thestairs are released.

The particular features in which my invention consists will behereinafter set forth in the claims at the end of this specification.

Figure 1 is an elevation of a building provided with my improvedfire-escape; Fig. 2, a partial section of Fig. 1 on line a; x, and Fig.3 a detail of one of the supports for the stair rail or baluster.

' The building A herein shown is provided with balconies B B of ordinaryconstruction, the said balconies being attached to the building in anysuitable or usual manner, and having at one end an opening in theplatform covered by a door or by canvas, the opening being onlysufficiently large to permit a person to descend therethrough, as whengoing down a pair of stairs. Each balcony herein shown has secured to itat the under side of its platform a pair of stairs, to, the latter beingpivoted or hinged, as at a, to a block, a", secured to the under side ofthe said balcony. Each pair of stairs has a rail or baluster, a, alsohinged or pivoted at its upper end, as at a, to the balcony, the saidbaluster being joined to the stairs proper by elbow-shaped levers b,(shown best in Fig. 3,) one end, b of each lever being extended acrossthe stairs, or nearly so, to thus provide a strong support for the rail,the said pivoted levers being adapted to turn and permit the rail andstairs to be folded together closely into the dottedline position shownin Fig. 1 when the stairs are in their normal position. The-lower end ofeach pair of stairs has connected to it a branch cable, b, joined to amain cable, 11", attached to a drum, a, mounted in bearings 0 in theupper part of the building, the said main cable passing .down preferablyat the inner side of the outer wall of the building, the said wall ateach floor or story having a suitable hole or opening for the passage ofone of the branch cables I) to be attached to the free end of thestairs. The cable b passes over a sheave, 12*, shown as located near theroof D. The shaft 0 of the drum 0, on which is wound the cable I), hasfast on it a disk, d, notched as at 2, the said disk, together with alever-catch, 3, constituting a locking device for the drum, so as toretain the cable 12 wound up and the stairs elevated against the actionof their weight. The drum 0 has also connected to it a cable, I), whichis permitted to hang down between the partitions d d, it having securedto its lower end a weight, V, which very nearly counterbalances thecombined weight of all the stairs, so that a very little pull on thecord b or upward push on any of the stairs would restore the said stairsto the dotted-line position in Fig. 1. When one cable,as b, is woundabout the drum 0, the other cable, I), will be correspondingly unwound.The partition, as herein shown, is cutthrough on each floor, as at e,for the passage of a small wire rope or cord, 0, which is connected tothe wire rope or cord 6 ext-ended the length of the building, andsecured at its upper endto the lever 3, pivoted to an arm, 4, secured tothe uprights c. The lever 3 is bent, as at 5, to enter one of the slots2 of the disk (1, the said bent end being normally retained in the saidslot by the spring 8 until released by a person pulling one of the cordse, the disengagement of the lever 3 from the said slot permitting thestairs a to descend slowly by their weight. The slots 2 in the disk of?are placed such a distance apart that the time occupied in the rotationof the disk to place a second slot beneath the bent end 5 of the lever 3is equal to the time required for the stairs to descend from theirnormal or dotted-line position to their full-line or operativeposit-ion, and vice versa. The partition d is also tapped or bored ateach fioor, as atf, and a short lever, f, is passed therethrough, and issecured to the cord 6 the said lever being adapted by its movement torelease a hammer, f, of a gong or bell,f, when the cord eis pulled todisengage the lever 3 from the disk d to release the drum and permit thelowering of the several pairs of stairs. The partition d is furthertapped or bored, as at g, and a cord, 9, is passed therethrough andconnected with the cord 6 the cord 9 being herein shown as passed belowthe floor (marked F) and over a sheave, 9 located near that side of thebuilding to which the balconies are attached, the said cord entering abox, 9, at the outside of the building, the said boX having a door whichmay be opened from the street to effect the lowering of the stairs fromthe outside of the building, the keys to the said box being in thepossession of a policeman or other authorized person or persons.

In operation the stairs will be lowered from the dotted-line position,shown in Fig. 1 by pulling any one of the small cords e, located on thediiferent floors of the building, or by pulling the cord 9', suchoperation disengaging the lever 3 from the slot 2 of the disk ci therebyallowing the stairs to descend. The act of disengaging the lever 3 fromthe disk (1 either by pulling the cord e from the inside of the buildingor by pulling the cord 9 from the outside of the building, serves toring a bell or gong, f, on each floor, thus notifying the inmates of theexistence of a fire in the building.

In case of fire the stairs afford a ready, safe, and rapid means ofdescent, and being familiar with stairs, danger of accident is greatlyreduced, and the element of fear is so largely removed as to add verymaterially to the chances of saving life.

I do not desire to limit my invention to the exact form of lockingmechanism shown, as the same may be substituted by other well-knownequivalent locking mechanism or brakes and yet be within the scope of myinvention, and so. also, if desired, the cable andcounterbalancing-weight might be omitted; but their use is preferred. 7

I claim 1. The balconies, stairs pivoted thereto, a main cable andbranch cables attached there: to and to the stairs, and a drum to whichthe main cable is fastenedcombined with a locking 2 mechanism for thesaid drum, a cord to move it, and aseries of connected branch cords andgongs or alarms located at each floor, substantially as described.

2. The balconies, stairs pivoted thereto, a

main cable and branch cables attached th reto and to the stairs, and adrum to which the main cable is fastened, combined with a lockingmechanism for the said drum, a cord to move it, and gongs or alarmslocated at each floor and operated by the said cord, and the cord 9,whereby the stairs may be lowered and the alarms sounded from outsidethe build in 2 The balconies and the stairs and railing pivoted thereto,combined with the supports b, having the right-angled extensions bsubstantially as and for the purpose described.

In testimony whereof I have signed my name to this specification inthepresence of two subscribing witnesses.

\VALTER S. GOODWVILLIE.

Witnesses:

G. W. GREGORY, .JAS. H. CHURCHILL.

